Through the Lens with C.S. LewisNovember 2012

“The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOUR

Mere Christianity Book Three

Three Parts of MoralityWhat is the purpose

of the moral law? (45)

Is it possible to maintain?

Is it important to try? Why?

What is the danger of considering oneself a person of high ideals?

We focus on “fair play and harmony” and forget about internal harmony and the purpose of life. Why?

What IS the purpose of this life?What would it take to really reform society?

(46)What is the implication of eternal life?What are the three parts of morality then? (47)

“…think of humanity as a band playing a tune. To get a good result, you need two things. Each player’s instrument must be in tune and also must come in at the right moment so as to combine with all the others…” (46)

The “Cardinal Virtues”Prudence (48)What has

happened to common sense?

How does intelligence factor into prudence?

Temperance (49)What is one of the

marks of a certain type of “bad man”? Isn’t it a good thing to make others give up what you choose to relinquish?

Is temperance limited to alcohol? What modern things tempt us to intemperate behavior?

Justice (49)What does “justice” include?What do we often use the word

for instead?

Fortitude (49)•Why is “guts” a good synonym for fortitude?•Why is fortitude important?

Being and DoingWhat is the difference between

“doing justly” and “being a just person”? (49)

What sort of people does God want? (50)

How do we become that sort of people?

Why are these virtues necessary in the eternal sense?

Social MoralityWhat is the job of

every moral teacher? (51)

Why is it critical to consider culture in evangelism?

Whose job is it to apply the “golden rule?”

“Christianity…is meant for all men at all times and the particular programme which suited one place and time would not suit another.” (51)

We have all departed from that total plan in different ways, and each of us wants to make out that his own modification of the original plan is the plan itself…. (52)

What would the perfect Christian society look like? (52)

Would YOU want to live there?

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU GIVE? (52)For many of us the great obstacle to charity lies not in our luxurious living or desire for more money, but in our fear---fear of insecurity. (53)

MATTHEW 6:25-34

LEST WE FORGET

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Morality and Psychoanalysis

People often think of Christian morality as kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other thing…. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature…” (55)

ForgivenessWhy is it so hard

to forgive?How does one

“hate the sin and love the sinner”? (67)

How do we know it’s possible?

How does punishment fit with forgiveness?

PRIDEThe Great Sin

Did anyone think “ouch”?

“There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.(69)

•How is pride the total anti-God state of mind?•How is pride essentially competitive?•What does pride enjoy most.•How do you see this working in contemporary culture?•How do you see this infiltrating the Church?

When asked once, "How much money is enough money?" He replied,

"Just a little bit more."

John Davidson Rockefeller (July 8, 1839-May 23, 1937)Industrial Tycoon, one of the ‘robber barons”, Standard OilPhilanthropist ,faithful tither (Northern Baptist), self-made

“…it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.” (70)

Why?

•Why can’t the proud know God?•What is the test of pride?

•Why is Pride the worst of all the vices?•What is Pride NOT?

•Does God forbid because it offends Him? (71)

• How does one acquire humility?

CHARITY

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:13

Why are the poor the most charitable?

What is the purpose of charity?

What is the essential element of charity? (73)

How are charity and love the same thing?

What is the greatest evidence of love?

How does one develop charitable “feelings” toward others? (74)

THE IRRATIONAL SEASON"But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him."

HopeHow does Lewis define “hope”?

(75)How should this hope affect our

actions every day?How does one train

himself/herself to want that which cannot be seen?

What is the purpose of earthly pleasures?

How does one maintain a desire for the unseen and eternal? (76)

Faith

What is wrong with this image?

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”– Pope John Paul II

What IS faith?Hebrews 11

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

James 2 For just as the body without the spirit

is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Romans 10 So faith comes from hearing, and

hearing by the word of Christ.

What is the purpose of faith? (78)

Confident expectation based on reason, unaltered by emotion or

imagination.

Doingand Being

What is the difference between “being” and “doing?” (80)

What is one clear evidence of faith? (81)How does Lewis address works and faith

together? (81)

HOMEWORK

Read Book Four “Beyond Personality”No presentationWrite a response to Book Four (2-3 pages)

Art Project due 12 (W), 14 December (T/F): Create a piece of artwork that incorporates a quote from any book we have read so far. Must be 4”x12” in digital form. This is the size for a Facebook cover/header. Post to the group AND email to me. (stephanie.loomis@jfca.org)